nom=de=plume wrote:
I was thinking about getting something to sail on the small lake near the
property. It would need to be small enough that I deal with, yet big enough
to take two adults or me and two kids... when the Spring comes or we get a
stretch of decent weather...

I saw this ad ... don't know anything about Banshee sailboats, but it seems
pretty simple to operate. Comments/opinions? Is that a decent price?

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/1448183101.html


Don't even think about it unless you and the kids are accomplished
swimmers and you are capable of pulling yourself out of the water onto
a boat. Non swimmers depending on life jackets is an invitation to
tragedy. If you are all good swimmers then read on.

If you don't mind getting wet a few time whenever you go out with the
kids then go for it, by all means. Small sailboats like this are tons
of fun. I emphasize the wet part. Kids like nothing better that
dumping the things. That's the best part of sailing for them.

I took sailing lessons a few years ago at a local club. The club
used Lasers and one larger boat. There were three (mature) adults and
a bunch of kids ranging in ages from 10 to 17 ish in the class. The
other two adults were a married couple that took the larger boat. I
got to sail with the kids, lucky me. "Come on lets dump'er again" !!!!
Splash. It got to the point that I could walk around the hull as the
Laser was turning turtle and right it without getting wet. I'm a good
swimmer and have always loved the water, but by the time the course
was finished I had enough practice dumping sailboats. You may want to
consider something that is self righting, but the chances are you
would be looking at a boat that's a lot heavier than you would want.

Think along the idea of a "Barrel of monkeys". If you like the
thought then get out your checkbook. I live on waterfront property and
own a larger self righting sailboat, I love sailing it. If I had
grandchildren I would rather they sailed on something like the Lasers.
Kids would enjoy them much more than my boat.

LdB

On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 09:40:04 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:


"nom=de=plume" wrote in message
...
I was thinking about getting something to sail on the small lake near the
property. It would need to be small enough that I deal with, yet big enough
to take two adults or me and two kids... when the Spring comes or we get a
stretch of decent weather...

I saw this ad ... don't know anything about Banshee sailboats, but it
seems pretty simple to operate. Comments/opinions? Is that a decent price?

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/1448183101.html

--
Nom=de=Plume


A very popular open dinghy up here is the CL16...originally a copy of the
Wayfarer.
I had the smaller CL 14... but would go for the larger 16 if I bought
another small sailboat.
Lots of 2nd hand copies for sale in central Canada.
http://vaxxine.com/clsailboats/cl16.htm


Get a scow. No centerboard trunk to interfere with stowage of the
coolers. An M-16 would do the job. With twin rudders you can get up on
the high side and still reach the tiller.

Casady

"LdB" wrote in message
m...
nom=de=plume wrote:
I was thinking about getting something to sail on the small lake near the
property. It would need to be small enough that I deal with, yet big
enough to take two adults or me and two kids... when the Spring comes or
we get a stretch of decent weather...

I saw this ad ... don't know anything about Banshee sailboats, but it
seems pretty simple to operate. Comments/opinions? Is that a decent
price?

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/1448183101.html


Don't even think about it unless you and the kids are accomplished
swimmers and you are capable of pulling yourself out of the water onto a
boat. Non swimmers depending on life jackets is an invitation to tragedy.
If you are all good swimmers then read on.

Certainly good advice. I'm a (former) surfer, so that's not an issue. I
always have trouble getting these guys to get out of the water. Everyone in
the extended family swim well. I think it's genetic.


If you don't mind getting wet a few time whenever you go out with the kids
then go for it, by all means. Small sailboats like this are tons of fun.
I emphasize the wet part. Kids like nothing better that dumping the
things. That's the best part of sailing for them.

I took sailing lessons a few years ago at a local club. The club used
Lasers and one larger boat. There were three (mature) adults and a bunch
of kids ranging in ages from 10 to 17 ish in the class. The other two
adults were a married couple that took the larger boat. I got to sail
with the kids, lucky me. "Come on lets dump'er again" !!!! Splash. It got
to the point that I could walk around the hull as the Laser was turning
turtle and right it without getting wet. I'm a good swimmer and have
always loved the water, but by the time the course was finished I had
enough practice dumping sailboats. You may want to consider something
that is self righting, but the chances are you would be looking at a boat
that's a lot heavier than you would want.

Think along the idea of a "Barrel of monkeys". If you like the thought
then get out your checkbook. I live on waterfront property and own a
larger self righting sailboat, I love sailing it. If I had grandchildren I
would rather they sailed on something like the Lasers. Kids would enjoy
them much more than my boat.

LdB



--
Nom=de=Plume

I used to have an 8 foot Sportyak dinghy that carried on the hardtop of
my 30 ft. Chris and it had a sail kit. I used to take out on Anchor
Bay (in good weather only) and it did OK. Not the greatest lines for
a sail boat, but was fun . If you're only planning on going on a
small lake, I don't see any problem with a 13 footer. It would be fun
to learn with and you may decide to move up into something bigger. The
poster telling you to wear PFDs has a good point, a boat like that can
tip over pretty easily. We used to have a Wayfarer Class regatta on
LK. St. Clair and these were 16 ft. boats. They handled the St. Clair
chop pretty well.